Spatiality, belonging and citizenship in the age of migration in contemporary China

Abstract

While internal migration in contemporary China ascribes a great change to urban China's demographic composition, social structures and economic development trajectories, it is yet to restructure the formal definitions of urban identity and belonging, which are still dominated by the household registration system (hukou). The paper suggests that as a result of changes in the political, economic, demographic and social contexts within which China's internal migration develops, there emerge a crucial need to re‐examine the crude forms of determining identity and belonging, questioning the addressing of spatiality within the existing mechanisms (such as hukou system or the shiminhua discourse). To do so, the paper argues that the existing de‐territorialisation of the migration experience has to be replaced with a more nuanced understanding of how spatial practices and conceptualisations shape migrants’ experiences, as it is becoming imperative to develop a new framework that is more sensitive to migrants’ lived process of identification and belonging, especially as these traverse multiple geographies and spatial scales. This close engagement with migrants’ spatiality can then be used as a base from which to engage with a more complex view of migrants’ spatial and social relatedness, as well as the development of their urban belonging and identity.

Beyond neighbouring: Migrants' place attachment to their host cities in China

“…Migrants face notable institutional, social and cultural barriers in the city and often reside in marginal and unregulated areas, resulting in socio‐spatial segregation (Lin & Gaubatz, 2017; Liu, He, Wu, & Webster, 2010). Institutional factors, or hukou to be specific, are often regarded as the determining reason that hinders migrants from establishing strong ties with the host city (Kochan, 2019). However, many recent studies suggest that migrants' length of residence in the city is longer and their willingness to settle is stronger (Tan et al, 2017), indicating their growing bonds with the city.…”

“…For a long time, an urban hukou designation has been commensurate with “citizenship” in a given city (Zhang, 2012). However, with the evolution of the migration situation and the implementation of a “points system1” in many Chinese cities, this crude definition of citizenship has become less useful for understanding migrant integration in the city (Guo & Liang, 2017; Kochan, 2019). Since 2010, shiminhua or “citizenisation” of migrants has been frequently used in official and popular discourse (Kochan, 2019).…”

“…However, with the evolution of the migration situation and the implementation of a “points system1” in many Chinese cities, this crude definition of citizenship has become less useful for understanding migrant integration in the city (Guo & Liang, 2017; Kochan, 2019). Since 2010, shiminhua or “citizenisation” of migrants has been frequently used in official and popular discourse (Kochan, 2019). Against the emphasis on transforming migrants' hukou status, shiminhua symbolises a gradual process through which migrants are integrated into urban life not only legally but also socially and attitudinally (Mobrand, 2015).…”

Place attachment and mobility in the context of job‐induced multilocal dwelling—The case of China

“…Ultimately, he resolved the identity conflict by resting his place identity on his hukou status—Shenzhen—the city where he legally belongs and is entitled to citizenship rights. Investigating how China's rural migrants form an urban identity, Kochan (2020) argued that migrants' spatial practices, rather than the fixed and stable elements such as hukou , frame their construction of citizenship belonging and identity. In contrast, for these multilocal dwellers, the key question is not how they form an urban identity but which city their identity lies in.…”

‘My body tells me to stay here’: Materiality, identity and everyday politics in Wentang Town, China

“…Under mass internal migration and the household registration system ( hukou ), the status of migrants has become one of the most pressing axes of social difference in contemporary China (Kochan, 2020). The hukou system determines people's access to social service as well as social and political participation, thus is conceived to be the only form of urban citizenship (Nguyen et al, 2012) shaping the formal definitions of identity and belongings (Feng and Breitung, 2018; Kochan, 2020). Understandably, China's lifestyle migrants, without local hukou, were conceptualized as a precarious group who experience alienation in place of destination (Chen, 2020; Chen and Wang, 2020).…”